Cristian Tello heading to Atletico Madrid?

David Ramos/Getty ImagesTello heading to the Vicente Calderon?

Rumors out of Spain have surfaced that Atletico Madrid are interested in Cristian Tello, according to Goal.com as well as AS (Spain).

Tello had a breakout season with Barcelona and has caught the attention of Los Colchoneros. Tello made his Liga debut in the 75th minute of a 1-1 tie against Villarreal in January. Tello has shined the brightest out of the Barça youngsters this past season.

Atletico has been busy so far this transfer period, as the Europa League winners have already signed Emre Belozoglu (previously with Fenerbachçe) on a free transfer, as well as Cristian Rodriguez from FC Porto.

Tello went on TV3 (Catalunya) and said he wouldn’t mind a move to the Vicente Calderon.

"My dream is to be at Barça, at least for the final year of my contract," said Tello. “It would be a reward for me to go to Atletico. If I have to go, then I will go.”

Atletico have also been rumored to be interested in two other Barça youngsters: Sergi Roberto and Marc Muniesa.

To me, I’m not surprised that Tello may be sold. This Barcelona team has a good number of wingers and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Tello move to Atletico. It would be the best thing for his game, as he would undoubtedly become a starter. At Barcelona, Tello will still have to battle against Isaac Cuenca, Alexis Sanchez, David Villa and Pedro for playing time, not to mention some of the other youngsters from La Masia who will eventually come up.

Plus, this team can and will go after another winger by the name of Neymar next summer.

One reason Barcelona may move Tello is the fact that Ibrahim Afellay is back and can play winger. In my opinion, I’d rather keep Afellay over Tello. Yes, Tello was very impressive and it looks like he will have a bright future. But he needs to get more playing time and that may not happen at Barcelona.

I like Tello and I hope he stays, but if Atletico wants him, I think it wouldn’t be a bad thing to sell him for the right price.

Latest on Jordi Alba

The Daily Mail (UK) is reporting that Tottenham are winning the battle to keep Gareth Bale from FC Barcelona.

This has made Barcelona to go after Jordi Alba even more.

Many people in Barcelona wanted to see Bale come to the Camp Nou. But at £30 million, it is an unrealistic purchase for El Blaugrana.

Besides, Jordi Alba is a better fit and will cost dramatically less.

However, the purchase price is the final obstacle. Reports out of Spain say Valencia are looking for €15 million, but Barcelona is currently offering €10 million.

Valencia is determined to sell Alba, as his contract expires next season. Valencia has also been busy buying this summer, as they have signed Joao Pereira from Sporting Lisbon and Andres Guardado from Deportivo de la Coruña.

To me, it feels like they are already spending the money they will get for Alba.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Jordi Alba said his agents are taking care of the situation.

"Barça? My agents are taking care of those issues. I don't know anything at the moment. I'm happy at Valencia."

Manchester City's Zabaleta and Kompany Targeted by FCB

Man City duo

Barcelona needs help in the back line and two players the club has been looking at are from the Premier League champions.

Mirror (UK) has reported that Barcelona is interested in signing Pablo Zabaleta as a possible replacement for Dani Alves. There have been numerous reports that Alves may be on his way out this summer. Rumors have surfaced that Manchester City is considering an Alves for Zabaleta deal with Barcelona.

The deal would help Barcelona cut costs as club officials look to save money.

Do I think an Alves for Zabaleta deal is good? It’s not a bad deal, that’s all I’ll say.

Do I sell Dani Alves? No.

Do I think it’s a possibility? Of course, but I doubt it will happen.

Sport.es (Barcelona) has also reported that FC Barcelona was considering a move for Man City’s Vincent Kompany. However, Kompany recently stated to The People (England) that he is happy at City.

Thiago Silva says he will stay with Milan

Last week, Sport.es reported that club officials spoke to Milan officials about a possible transfer. Milan was rumored to be asking for €30 million, plus Thiago Alcantara for Silva.

But now, Thiago Silva might have ended Barcelona’s attempts to sign him by telling the Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy, via ESPN.com) that he is staying at Milan.

“I have been told that for Milan I am a fundamental part of the team and non-transferable. Am I tempted to play in the Premier League or La Liga? Absolutely not. I am happy at Milan and I want to stay. I spoke with Adriano Galliani before I left for Hamburg [where Brazil played a friendly against Denmark], and he told me: 'You can stay calm because you are not leaving this club'.”

Sounds like Thiago Silva is not going anywhere.

Of course, money talks and Silva could land in Barcelona. But he may become too expensive for El Blaugrana. There are also less expensive options like Alberto Botia of Sporting Gijon for Barça to look at.

Sport.es reported on Tuesday that Barcelona officials will head to Milan later this week to talk to Milan officials about Silva, who is apparently Tito Vilanova's number one target.

Who knows what will happen with Thiago Silva’s future. But one thing I do know is that Culés should be somewhat optimistic about the Brazilian coming to FC Barcelona. But I do hope Sandro Rosell has a Plan B ready, perhaps Javi Martinez of Athletic Bilbao (although very expensive), Mats Hummels of Borussia Dortmund or Jan Vertonghen of Ajax.

Real Madrid going after Martin Montoya?

Montoya

According to EcoDiario(Spain), Real Madrid is interested in stealing Martin Montoya from FC Barcelona.

Montoya started in the Copa Del Rey final last week and is one of Barcelona’s future stars. Real are looking to add to their defense as Los Blancos are rumored to be interested in Athletic Bilbao’s Javi Martinez as well as Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic.

Montoya has a €12 million buyout clause which will be raised to €20 million on July 1.

Don’t worry, Culés. Montoya will not be moving anywhere anytime soon. Barcelona will obviously not sell one of their future starters to their eternal rival. Plus, with Dani Alves more than likely done at the Camp Nou next season—maybe even this summer—Montoya will be the future RB.

This rumor sounds like Madrid media nonsense made up to worry the Catalan club and its fans.

Other Barça News

Sergio Rodriguez

AS(Spain) is reporting Barcelona LB Andreu Fontas, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in January, will more than likely be sent on loan this summer. Real Betis are interested in Fontas' services.

AS is also reporting that Barcelona are monitoring Real Betis midfielder Beñat for a possible future bid.

Yahoo! Eurosport UK states that Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic is being followed by Barcelona officials as a possible signing this summer.

Barça winger Isaac Cuenca had surgery to repair a meniscus injury to his right knee, according to the club’s website. Cuenca is out 3 to 4 months.

According to ABC de Sevilla (Spain), Barcelona will make a €1.5 bid to Real Betis for B squad starlet Sergio Rodriguez Hurtado.

Fox Sports Apologizes After Hackers Tweeted That Lionel Messi Died

Scary tweet

If you follow Fox Sports Norte (@FoxSports_norte) on Twitter, you received terrible news on Saturday night as a tweet was sent that Barcelona star Lionel Messi had died of cardiac arrest during training.

“We must report the sad news that Leonel [sic] Messi died of cardiac arrest during training #RipMessi”

While the tweet was quickly removed, several outlets including Sport.es, Mundo Deportivo and the rest of the Spanish media had already received word of the tweet and scrambled to try and confirm the news.

Fox Sports later released a statement apologizing for the tweet and stating hackers were the cause of the tweet.

“We regret the earlier tweet and offer our apologies to those that were offended. Clearly we were hacked.”

Messi is currently training with his Argentine national teammates, getting prepared for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier against Ecuador.

Congrats on La Copa

Angel Martinez/Getty ImagesCongrats Barça!

I want to congratulate FC Barcelona on winning the Copa Del Rey with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao. All Culés were happy to see Pep Guardiola leave on a winning note, winning his 14th trophy in four years.

It was great to see Pedro get back to his old form, getting a brace in the game. Messi got a goal, ending his season total to 73 goals.

It was also great to see that the Barça players placed Eric Abidal’s jersey on the Copa and carried it around the stadium. Classy move by Puyol and others to carry the Basque Country flag and thank the Athletic fans as well.

While Barcelona did not win La Liga or the UEFA Champions League, FC Barcelona did win four titles for the 2011-12 season: UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, 2011 FIFA Club World Cup and Copa Del Rey.

Other Transfer News

Hazard

Congrats to Chelsea for landing Eden Hazard. The soap opera is over. Now all of us in the football world can move on with our lives.

According to The Daily Mail (UK), Real Madrid is considering picking up former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba to reunite with Jose Mourinho. Mail is also reporting that the Shanghai Shenhua as potential suitors for Didi’s services.

ESPN.com as well as other outlets in Germany are reporting that Manchester United are very close to a €15 million signing of Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa.

The Daily Mail (UK) claims Bayern Munich are preparing a £20 million bid for Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko. Juventus is another club interested in the striker. Bayern recently signed 33-year-old striker Claudio Pizarro from Werder Bremen on a free transfer.

Thanks for Reading

Tito

Thanks for reading. Much appreciated.

As always, I will keep you updated with all things FC Barcelona. Whenever new transfer news and rumors break as well as whenever I hear new FC Barcelona news from Spain, I will keep you updated here at Bleacher Report.

For even faster info whenever FC Barcelona news breaks—as well as my other sports rants—follow me on Twitter @XoelCardenas.

Feel free to comment below on which transfer rumor you’d like—or not like—to see happen and why.

Xoel, The Voice of FC Barcelona on Bleacher Report and Featured Columnist for Spain for Euro 2012.